Yuri Andropov

Also known as Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov

General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1914–1984)

AI overview

Yuri Andropov was a Soviet leader who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1982 until his death in 1984, leading the country during a critical period of the Cold War. He is historically significant because he represented a potential turning point in Soviet leadership, though his brief time in power limited his ability to implement major reforms before his health declined.

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Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Yury
Gender: male
Citizenship: Soviet Union
Place of birth: Soluno-Dmitriyevskoye
Place of death: Moscow
Occupation: diplomat
Educated at: Petrozavodsk State University
Political party: Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Languages spoken: English language
Religion: atheism
Participant in: 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Conflict: Eastern Front
Military branch: KGB
Military rank: general of the army
Image: Yuri Andropov.jpg
Residence: Kutuzovsky Prospekt

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Commons category: Yuri Andropov
date of birth: 1914-06-02
date of death: 1984-02-09
ethnic group: Russians
place of burial: Kremlin Wall Necropolis
cause of death: kidney failure
manner of death: natural causes
member of: Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
allegiance: Soviet Union
name in native language: Юрий Владимирович Андропов
commander of (DEPRECATED): KGB

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Encyclopedic overview

Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (15 June [O.S. 2 June] 1914 – 9 February 1984) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from late 1982 until his death in 1984. He previously served as the Chairman of the KGB from 1967 until 1982.

Earlier in his career, Andropov served as the Soviet ambassador to Hungary from 1954 to 1957. During this period, he took part in the suppression of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising. Later under the leadership of Leonid Brezhnev, he was appointed chairman of the KGB on 10 May 1967. As Brezhnev's health deteriorated from the mid-1970s onward, Andropov began to increasingly dictate Soviet policy alongside Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko and Defense Minister Dmitry Ustinov.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Yuri Andropov” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.